This invention relates to the layout of a keyboard, and in particular the layout of a keyboard of a computer or a typewriter.
A conventional computer keyboard or a typewriter keyboard has a number of keys allowing the input of data and for controlling the operations of the personal computer. These keys include both alphanumeric character input keys as are found on a conventional typewriter, and also keys that are specific to operating the functions of a personal computer, eg CTRL & ALT keys, function keys F1-F12 and so on.
On a conventional personal computer keyboard the alphanumeric character input keys are arranged in the traditional QWERTY manner. That is to say the keys are arranged in four rows. A first top row contains the numeric keys 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,0, while three lower rows contain the alphabetic characters. The first row has the letters Q,W,E,R,T,Y,U,I,O,P, the second row has the letters A,S,D,F,G,H,J,K,L and the third row has the letters Z,X,C,V,B,N,M.
The origin of the QWERTY layout lies in the nature of traditional manual typewriters in which individual letters were formed at the ends of arms which moved when a key was struck so as to strike the paper through an inked ribbon. One problem with the original typewriter in the 19th century was that jamming was sometimes caused when the keys of frequently used letters were struck. A way of solving this problem was to separate out from each other the most commonly used letters so that they were not close to each other on the keyboard. This resulted in the QWERTY layout that has remained commonplace to this day even though the original problem that it was designed to address no longer applies in these days of electronic keyboards.
Traditionally typing was always done by trained typists and secretaries who were trained in the QWERTY layout and who had no difficulty in using it. More recently, however, as personal computers become more commonplace in both the home and workplace a wider range of people are using keyboards either for typing letters and documents, or simply for inputting data into a computer system, or for entering data when searching the world wide web. Many of these people are not trained in the QWERTY layout and to them the layout of keys appears to be random and haphazard. This problem is even worse for people whose own language is not based on the Roman alphabet, for example Chinese, Japanese or Arabic individuals, or people who have received only a minimum education. For these people the conventional QWERTY layout is inconvenient and causes a number of problems that delays their use of a computer.
It is an object of the present invention therefore to overcome or at least mitigate these problems.